Author: J.J.
Warning: It's BASED ON THE MANGA. It contains some Japanese words (the Dictionary is at the bottom), some OOC, a bit of sappiness.
Notes: I wanted to write something less dark... Consider this another of my 'You'll end up paying for everything you did' story a bit happier than usual.
Disclaimer:
"Tokyo Babylon" and "X" belong to Clamp. I'm merely using their characters because I love them... especially Seishiro and Subaru...
Ehy, do I own something here? Oh yes, I own the plot and a sensitive heart which would surely break if you give me harsh reviews... so please be honest but nice ok?
Thanks: To Von Questenberg for betaing this! Thank you a lot!
Summary: Each action causes a reaction. If you die you'll pay the price of your actions in the next life. But what if now you're just an innocent teenager and all of sudden find yourself dealing with the mess you caused in your previous life? Can you fix things? Or will you end up making an even bigger mess this time?
"The first time I saw you it felt like coming home
If I never told you I just want you to know
You had me from hello."
(Bon Jovi - "You Had Me From Hello")
The day the Sumeragi twins entered in his class for the first time, a week after that school year had started, had seemed ordinary enough to him. At first.
There was a certain amount of collective surprise from most of his classmates in seeing the twins because, except for the fact that one was wearing a male uniform and the other a female one, they were mirror copies of each other. Same fine black hair with the same short haircut, same round face, same green eyes, same small nose and almost the same built. They were introduced as Sumeragi Subaru and Hokuto.
Sumeragi Hokuto-chan, the girl, greeted the class energetically and cheerfully after writing her name in bold, large characters on the class-board. Her brother, Sumeragi Subaru-kun, who neatly wrote his name with smaller characters, barely talked, his voice so soft and low it was hard to hear it, a lot more polite and formal than his sister's. The teacher told them to sit in the two free places in the last row. The boy chose the one next to the window; his sister sat at his right.(1)
As soon as the boy sat down he concentrated on the lesson, not looking at anything else but his textbook or what the teacher wrote on the blackboard, diligently taking orderly and precise notes in his exercise book. His sister was probably doing the same but he didn't care about her at all. His problem was the boy. That quiet and apparently diligent boy had... irritated him from the moment the boy had seen set foot in class, for some reason he couldn't explain.
He too was in the last row, even if his position was against the wall opposite to the window. Arisugawa Sorata and Monou Fuma were between him and Sumeragi-chan, whom, after giving everyone a friendly smile, had started looking at her book as well, even if not with the same intensity of her brother. He didn't particularly care about the girl. The boy was the focal point of his gaze. Somehow his eyes couldn't leave him and yet Sumeragi Subaru-kun seemed oblivious of it. He was ignoring him. It was irritating.
No one ignored Sakurazuka Seishiro. No one.
"Geez, Seishiro, do you like the newby so badly?" Fuma asked in a tone loud enough to be heard by the ones around him also as he noticed his obsessive staring. Sumeragi-chan turned to look at him with a curious expression, probably assuming she was the newby Fuma was talking about. Arisugawa snickered.
"Don't be an idiot, Fuma, I'm merely bored," Seishiro replied brusquely forcing himself to turn his gaze away even if only for a second. "When is this stupid lesson going to end anyway? I wanna go out of here!" he complained.
Actually Seishiro needed to get out of here fast, before he walked straight to Sumeragi-kun's place and did something he would regret, though he had no idea what. Geez, the boy hadn't even raised his head at Fuma's words. Was he deaf or did he merely not care?
Fuma joined Arisugawa's snickering. Sumeragi-chan returned her gaze to her book. When Seishiro was about to try to do the same, Sumeragi-kun finally gave a furtive glance in his direction. Seishiro glared at him immediately, even if he had no idea why, and the boy hurried to turn his gaze away, blushing in embarrassment as if he had been caught doing something dirty. He didn't raise his head from his book again.
Seishiro spent the rest of the lesson staring at him and wondering why he was so irritated with the boy. Why had he glared at him? The poor kid had done nothing wrong and he couldn't know who he was since he was a transfer student and yet... Seishiro had hated how he was ignoring him.
When lunchtime came the kid was out of the class before Seishiro managed to stand. His sister instead was still here, chatting friendly with the others. Seishiro felt disappointed. He didn't care much about her. Not that he cared about her brother but...
"Where did your brother go, Hokuto-chan? He's kinda cute!" he heard a girl purring as he was following Fuma out of the class and he felt his annoyance grow even more. Why did she have to purr while inquiring about the boy?
"Subaru suffers of a terminal case of shyness," the girl explained with a giggle. She added something else but Seishiro didn't remain there to hear her out. He was used to eat with the other members of the basketball team, and he didn't see a reason to waste his time with the new girl. After all she didn't interest him in the slightest. Her brother on the other hand...
The following days were quiet as well. Sumeragi-kun was keeping himself as far as possible from social relationships, his sister was becoming more popular, and Seishiro was more and more irritated with the boy even if he still had no idea why, apart for the fact Sumeragi-kun didn't look at him. Not that he needed Sumeragi-kun's attention.
To add spice to an already complicated situation, it turned out that Kamui-chan, the one on whom Fuma seemed to have the crush of a lifetime, had developed a crush as well, but on the male Sumeragi, whom he had met in the art club of which they were both members. Kamui-chan was one year younger than them and built so small that people often teased him for it. Fuma knew him from when they were children and alternately acted toward him as a mature old brother and as an annoying and way too explicit teaser. Kamui-chan seemed to appreciate the mature old brother behaviour but when Fuma started trying to do stuff like licking his lobe or such... well, let's say that even if he was small, Kamui-chan knew how to give quite strong punches and kicks in places where a male preferred not to be kicked. Fuma could have fought back as well but he just... didn't want to. Seishiro was persuaded that, if Fuma were to keep up that courtship, he would never have hope with the kid but found the thing damn amusing so he never said anything.
Of course the fact that now Kamui-chan had a crush on Sumeragi-kun was causing a new wave of problems. From the glimpses Seishiro saw of them, Kamui-chan's crush was totally one-sided. Sumeragi-kun was keeping as far as it was politely possible from him as he did with others. Kamui-chan seemed to not get the message or be way too hopeful for his own well-being. It was quite annoying but, anyway, no one could get close to Sumeragi-kun except his twin sister and he avoided everyone else as much as possible. Including Seishiro.
Not that Seishiro had made attempts to get close to the boy. He would just spend hours staring at him and glaring at him as well, until his annoyance would grow to unbearable levels and he would search for an excuse to get out of the class before he resorted to do something drastic or, as his mother would call it, something stupid.
When he had mentioned his murdering impulses toward Sumeragi Subaru-kun to Fuma the boy had laughed and merely commented: 'Might it be love?'
He had glared and replied: 'Might it be you're losing your brain?'
Then Kamui-chan had dropped by to tell Fuma to not wait for him because he was going to spend some more time at art club. With no one else but Sumeragi Subaru-kun. Fuma had frowned, than he had said something dismissing and teasing at the same time in his typical fashion. Kamui-chan hadn't even heard him, as he was already busy running back at the club. For once Seishiro didn't find the situation funny.
"Shouldn't you keep your fiancц╘ away from Sumeragi-kun?" he asked to Fuma.
"I'm not a possessive bastard like you. Kamui-chan loves me and he will always return to me," the other commented with a shrug. "In given time."
"And hopefully still untouched..." Seishiro muttered. Fuma glared. It was Seishiro's turn to shrug nonchalantly.
"I'm not going to harm our playmaker at two days from the tournament. I'll wait until it's ended," Fuma declared with his typical captain's wisdom.
"Whatever you say, 'KaiChou'," Seishiro replied with another shrug. It didn't really matter to Seishiro if he wasn't the team captain. He didn't look forward to giving orders but he hated receiving them. So far he and Fuma had gotten along because Fuma was tactful about giving instructions. Come to think about it, that Sumeragi-kun had never shown any interest in sports activities and was excused from taking part in all the gym lessons. Seishiro groaned. He didn't want to think about Sumeragi-kun right then but it seemed he couldn't help it. Somehow he had turned it into a habit on which he depended even more than cigarettes.
Everything went downhill when the art club came to one of their training sessions to do sketches of human figures as they moved. Said human figures were supposed to be the basketball team members. Seishiro decided he would merely ignore everyone and concentrate on the game. Fuma made himself busy showing off in front of Kamui-chan who, instead, seemed to pay more attention to what Sumeragi-kun was drawing than to Fuma's performance. In a short while everyone was paying attention to what Sumeragi-kun was drawing, the murmurs rising of intensity quite a bit until they became a definite disturbance. Sumeragi-kun seemed fully engrossed in his work, ignoring those comments. Seishiro tried to cut them out as well but, when he realized he was involved in the discussion as well, something snapped inside him. That boy was drawing him and he was drawing him in such a way it was attracting everyone's attention.
He just left the playground, reached Sumeragi Subaru-kun and ripped from his hands the drawing block.
"What in the world do you think you're doing?" he yelled, "Who gave you the permission to use me for one of your stupid drawings? I..." He moved his gaze on the draw, planning to rip it into pieces and... stared. The boy's picture wasn't either ugly or a caricature. It was beautiful. So beautiful that it pushed him in stunned, awed silence causing him to wonder if the youth portrayed was really himself. He turned surprised eyes on Sumeragi-kun but before he could say something the other boy had stood, murmured hurried apologies bowing profusely and ran away in fear or shame or... something. He had wanted to follow him but he had been stopped by his coach who proceeded to give him the yelling of his life. Of course Seishiro hadn't cared much about it except for the part in which the coach announced he wouldn't take part in the next match. That interested him enough but, by then, there was nothing he could do except sulk. Kamui-chan threw a fit at Seishiro's behaviour and Fuma was totally unhelpful claiming that Seishiro had asked for it.
Seishiro spent the evening looking at Sumeragi-kun's drawing pad. The boy was talented, there was no point in denying it. There were many, many sketches of assorted animals, some of places filled with vegetation or architectural works, and a bunch portraying Sumeragi-kun's sister. Seishiro glared in annoyance at the ones portraying a girl (was she maybe Sumeragi-kun's girlfriend?) with long curly hair that he had never seen before but that, somehow, reminded him of Fuma; a girl of almost ethereal appearance, ghostlike. Her feet almost didn't touch the ground as she smiled, surrounded by birds, under one of the trees in the campus garden. In one drawing she even had wings that made her look like an angel. He didn't think he knew her, even if she looked almost their same age. Maybe was she someone the Sumeragi twins met before transferring in their school? Somehow those drawings annoyed him. He felt the urge to rip them apart but before he could do anything, his mother joined him on the couch demanding to know who had drawn them because she was sure that her son couldn't have developed such an artistic talent without her knowing.
Her curiosity wasn't that surprising, really; she had always loved beautiful things and Seishiro had taken after her with no doubt. However he didn't look forward to explaining to her what had happened to school. He had no choice of course. Sakurazuka Setsuka, despite her frail, delicate and gentle look, always got what she wanted and only an idiot would dare to oppose to her. It was a trait Seishiro shared with her.
"So the child you are hopelessly obsessing over for two weeks is an artist and you just managed to make him hate you," his mother summarized cheerfully as if she were finding the whole thing a very funny joke.
"I'm not hopelessly obsessing over him, Kaasan. I don't know where you got that idea," he pointed out, feeling very annoyed.
"Oh, I don't really know, maybe because you have to claim at least ten times each days that you hate him but you can't come up with a decent reason to hate him except the fact that he doesn't pay you any attention?" she asked, smiling innocently like a little girl.
"I never said I hate him, just that I find him... annoying..." he corrected, frowning at her.
"Because he doesn't look at you," she reminded him. "And now that he finally did... poor boy. Well, after your outburst I don't think he will do it ever again," she told to her son in a distracted, dismissive tone as if she considered the incident closed and Seishiro's chances to have Sumeragi-kun paying him attention again nonexistent.
"I didn't know what he was doing!" Seishiro defended himself. "I thought he was making fun of me! Everyone was just..."
"You were just being paranoid," she informed him, standing. "Well, will you apologize to him or will you let him think you're a first class jerk?" Seishiro frowned.
"You really think I've to apologize?" he asked. He wasn't really used to apologize. Let's face it, he almost never did it. Things had to go as Seishiro said and people had to accept it or it was really too bad for them.
"That, or being a first class jerk forever in his eyes," his mother stated solemnly.
"Kaasan, you're making fun of me," he complained.
"Yes," she admitted innocently. "And remember, you've to give him back those wonderful drawings!"
Seishiro had no chance to apologize to Sumeragi-kun the next day. As soon as he entered the classroom he found himself face to face with Sumeragi-chan. She gave him no time to say anything. She just slapped him hard, hissing that no one could hurt her baby brother. The teacher entered the classroom before he could reply.(2)
Sumeragi-kun didn't come to the lesson. His sister reported he was sick. The teacher gave her a sympathetic look and told her to take good care of her brother. During lunch break Kigai informed him about the gossip that was being spread about the two Sumeragi.
Apparently, since the two twins were related to an important family of Onmyouji they had been accused of being able to see ghosts. A quite stupid idea in Seishiro's opinion but that particular gossip was spreading in their school too. Some rumours said that the Sumeragi weren't legitimate children, other that they had been abandoned, other that they entered in CLAMP Gakuen only due to the Imonoyama's charity, other that they had a terminal disease... and so on. All in all Seishiro found them quite annoying. He just... didn't like to have people talking about Sumeragi-kun... even if he had no idea why.
Sumeragi-kun didn't show up at school for a whole week. Seishiro realized it annoyed him more not seeing the boy than seeing him. At least his team managed to win the match. The next week there was another of those odd celebrations CLAMP Gakuen was so famous for and so no lessons, which also meant no chance to see the boy for another week.(3) Really, he had no luck. However destiny decided to prove him wrong when, walking through the city, he spotted Sumeragi-kun walking around as well.
The boy was alone. It would have been a perfect opportunity to apologize, socialize and show him he wasn't... how had his mother so nicely put it? Oh yes, 'a first class jerk'. However, Seishiro had no idea what had possessed him when, instead of simply doing so, he dumped his team-mates at the entrance of the cinema with an excuse and merely started following the boy, curious to see where he was heading.
Sumeragi-kun was walking quietly, keeping away from crowds, head lowered as he stared at the ground, hands in his pockets. Somehow he reminded Seishiro of a lost puppy. He was kind of cute.
Seishiro wondered if the boy too was going out to meet someone, a friend, a boyfriend or a girlfriend maybe, and felt his usual annoyance when Sumeragi-kun was around returning. He frowned as he kept following him. The boy was walking away from the city, toward the sea, through silent streets. It wasn't the brightest thing to do but Seishiro wasn't afraid of bad meetings. He was sure he knew how to take care of himself. Sumeragi-kun on the other side...
The boy walked until he reached the point where a new bridge was being built.
Long ago at that place, there had been what was called Rainbow Bridge, but it had been destroyed in an earthquake. Now in its place a new bridge was being built.(4)
Seishiro didn't like that place. It gave him a weird feeling as if he'd been there and something bad had happened. Sumeragi-kun stared at the structure. It was deserted. Well, it was a holiday. Firmly, the boy stepped over the half built bridge, ignoring the sign that forbade doing so. Seishiro blinked, and then actually ran after him, a weird sense of dread possessing him. Nothing good would come from visiting that bridge. He reached Sumeragi-kun when the boy was quite close to the unfinished part of the bridge. He called him and the boy turned to look at him, his gaze similar to the one of a frightened bunny.
"Hey, no, calm down, I didn't mean to scare you!" he assured immediately as he saw Sumeragi-kun back stepping toward the edge, bubbling apologies about drawing him that day. "Sumeragi-kun, it's okay. I'm not mad at you anymore. You really shouldn't stay there... it's dangerous..." he added walking slowly toward him. Sumeragi-kun had slowed his pace but was still shrinking away, toward the edge. "Sumeragi-kun, I swear I've no bad intentions! Come back here!" he called again.
"I can't... Sakurazuka-san..." the boy whimpered. "He's calling me... He's lonely and he wants me... I've to go... I'm sorry, Sakurazuka-san..." Seishiro didn't understand what he meant but he could see the boy was planning to jump off the edge and he knew the fall or simply being in the water so far from the coast would have ended up killing him.
"Sumeragi-kun, come back here!" he called again. "No one is calling you, you don't have to go!" he insisted. The boy seemed to pause, unsure. Seishiro took a large breath and called again. "Come here, Sumeragi-kun," he insisted in the most reassuring tone he knew, stretching his hand toward the boy so he could grasp it. There was a flicker of indecision in the boy's eyes, then with a tiny hesitation he seemed to be willing to obey to Seishiro's request when he lost balance. It was all in a moment.
"Subaru-kun!" he yelled as he moved to grip the boy's hand.
"Seishiro-san!" the boy called in a desperate request for help. Seishiro grasped his hand and managed to drag him toward himself before things turned dangerous. He lost his balance while pulling the boy, and for a second he thought they both would fall from the bridge. Instead they managed to end up on the ground, wondering whom they had to thank for that small miracle.
For a second they just stood there, one against the other, then Seishiro sat and, while helping the other teenager to do the same, he asked to the trembling boy how he was feeling. He didn't release him however. Subaru-kun looked at him then sniffled and the next second he was sobbing against Seishiro's chest. Seishiro hugged him, tightly and the two remained there, holding each other close, unable to do anything else but clung to each other. Seishiro could still hear his heart beating so fast it was almost louder than Subaru-kun's sobs. He didn't like that situation for reasons he couldn't understand. It gave him a sense of dц╘jц -vu, but it was a bad dц╘jц -vu laced with the strong feeling that Subaru-kun shouldn't cry, that he should never make the boy cry, that he should protect him, protect him from something bad that was... how he could say it? All around them, floating in that place and that threatened Subaru-kun in a way that scared him, as if it wanted to own, to possess the boy and take him away forever.
"Subaru-kun... it's okay now... it's okay... I got you... let's leave now..." he insisted, his arms clinging the youth.
"He wants me... he wants me... he's lonely and he wants me... and it was all my fault... and I can't let him alone..." the boy repeated. Seishiro frowned.
"Whoever wants you, will have to face me first," he stated coldly. Subaru-kun turned to look at him, blinking. Seishiro gazed back in those teary green eyes. He had meant it. He won't let someone touch Subaru-kun. He had no idea why he was so protective of the boy all of sudden but that was the way he felt. "Don't worry, I'll protect you," he added more warmly. The boy lowered his head, still sobbing lightly but trying to get the hang of it, and mumbled apologies. Apologizing seemed to be the only thing Subaru-kun was willing to do around him. He wanted to be annoyed by this, he really did but somehow he couldn't anymore. The other boy seemed so scared and unhappy... and the 'need' to protect him was so overwhelming... He helped Subaru-kun up and then pushed him against his chest and held him close, rubbing his back as he dragged him away.
Subaru-kun shouldn't be there. Not now, not ever. Not with that 'thing' for which Seishiro had no name.
Seishiro breathed in relief after they had left the bridge. He didn't know why but he was just sure the two of them should have never gone there. He turned to look at Subaru-kun who was still trembling and sniffling pitifully.
"Don't cry," he repeated again, kindly. "I'll take you to eat something; right now you need an ice-cream or something equally energetic that'll help you to forget this incident," he offered. Subaru-kun raised his head at that and shook it frenetically. "Come on, don't be afraid. I swear I won't hurt you," Seishiro insisted.
"No... no, I... I have no money with me, I..." the boy babbled apologetically.
"Subaru-kun, don't worry about that. I've money enough to pay for the both of us," Seishiro assured but the boy didn't seem to plan to accept. "Subaru-kun. Let me do this. Take it as an apology for yelling at you with no good reason at all, okay?" Seishiro insisted in a serious tone. Subaru-kun gave him a wary glance, hurried to lower his eyes and then mumbled an 'Okay, thank you...' so low it was barely perceptible as he kept staring obstinately at the ground. Seishiro didn't let himself be discouraged.
"That's great, then follow me! I know a place where they do the best ice-creams in the whole Tokyo!" he exclaimed cheerfully as he nonchalantly took hold of Subaru-kun's hand and started dragging him with himself. The boy followed him docilely even if he still was keeping his head lowered and seemed equally scared and embarrassed. To make up for Subaru-kun's silence Seishiro began chatting about unimportant topics, trying to ask questions as well, to which Subaru-kun answered merely with nods or shakes. It was a bit annoying, but then Seishiro remembered he had never seen him talking with someone at school and that his sister had said he was pretty shy. So maybe Subaru-kun's behaviour couldn't be helped until he got a bit more familiar with Seishiro. It was when they were about to enter inside the ice-cream parlour that disaster hit.
Disaster that answered to the name of his team mates.
"Seishiro! You didn't tell us you dumped us because you had a date with Sumeragi!" Fuma exclaimed, loud enough to be heard on the other side of Tokyo. Really, subtlety wasn't his forte. Seishiro glared daggers at him, especially when he sensed Subaru-kun tensing and on the point to escape. He held the boy's hand tighter, refusing to let go, gaining a half scared, half pleading glance from Subaru-kun at which he answered with a charming smile.
"Subaru-kun, that loudmouthed guy is, strangely enough, our basketball team KaiChou, Monou Fuma, currently sexually frustrated because the love of his life doesn't spare him a glance," Seishiro explained amiably.
"'Subaru-kun' eh? Sumeragi, you'll better be careful around this guy," Fuma replied. "He has the horrible reputation of stealing the virginity from each pretty boy and girl he meets."
"At least I don't try to involve them in sado-masochistic sex," Seishiro countered.
"No, you just have a fetish for bondage," Fuma replied sweetly. Subaru-kun blushed hard and looked from Fuma to Seishiro likely wondering which of the two was the most insane.
"You two are embarrassing Sumeragi-san," the tallest and largest built of the team pointed out. "I believe that we've never been introduced," he then added to Subaru-kun's benefit. "I'm Shiyu Kusanagi."
"And I'm Arisugawa Sorata. We're in the same class if you haven't noticed!" Arisugawa announced cheerfully.
"I'm also in your same class. Kigai Yuto, pleased to finally talk with you," Kigai said in that friendly manner of his. "You're amazingly fast to escape from the class when the bell rings!" he also added.
"Sumeragi Subaru, pleased to meet you all..." Subaru-kun mumbled in a tiny voice, bowing and blushing as he almost shied away, hiding behind Seishiro. Seishiro felt the need to groan. He hadn't planned to have Shiyu, Arisugawa, Fuma and Kigai around. To be honest he didn't want them around right then. Now that he could have Subaru-kun all for himself he really didn't want to share. Of course he had no say in this as he found himself being pushed aside by the others. At least he managed to not let go Subaru-kun's hand. The boy seemed even more reluctant than him to enter. He managed to get Subaru-kun to sit next to the window and he got the place immediately beside him, so they could be close. He smiled encouragingly at the boy when he caught his scared glance. They gave their orders to the waitress, well Seishiro made Subaru-kun's as well since the boy seemed too shy to make it on his own, and then started chatting.
"So, Sumeragi-kun, is that true your family can talk with ghosts?" Arisugawa asked out of the blue as if that was a matter people asked normally.
"I..." Subaru-kun mumbled again in a very small voice, looking down as if he wished the ground would open and swallow him. He didn't have to answer as Arisugawa immediately yelped in pain.
"Sakurazuka!" he complained, "Why did you..."
"Kishu will be interested to know you were flirting with someone else," Seishiro observed casually.
"I wasn't!" Arisugawa exclaimed. "I was merely trying to be friendly!"
"Maybe Sumeragi-kun doesn't want to talk about it," Yuto suggested, smiling amused. To see Sakurazuka Seishiro getting all so protective and possessive over someone else was definitely a novelty and he found it rather fun and oddly cute.
"But I think it's cool if he can..." Arisugawa yelped again as Seishiro gave him another kick from under the table. The two might have started an argument if the waitress hadn't returned with their orders.
Seishiro passed the chocolate chip ice cream he had ordered for Subaru-kun to the boy and then proceeded to enjoy his own. Subaru-kun stared at it hesitantly, as if he expected it to explode, then tried taking the spoon and sampling it. He seemed to like it because, even if way more slowly than Seishiro, he started to eat it. The others proceeded to do the same with their ordinations. For five blissful minutes nothing wrong happened until Fuma had to open his mouth again.
"So Sumeragi, are you dumping Kamui-chan for Seishiro here?" he asked as he licked carelessly his spoon clear of strawberry ice-cream remains. Seishiro glared at him. Subaru-kun looked up from his ice cream and blinked.(5)
"Who's 'Kamui-chan'?" he asked in perfect honesty. There was a collective blinking. Evidently no one had considered the boy might not know Kamui-chan's given name. Fuma's eyes narrowed.
"Shiro Kamui-chan. The one you were getting along so well with while you were drawing Seishiro," he clarified. He didn't like the idea of sharing Kamui-chan with Sumeragi but it bothered him even more than the boy wasn't acknowledging Kamui-chan's existence.
"You mean Shiro-san?" the boy asked confused, in that timid manner of his. "He's one of my Kouhai at the art club. What about him?"
"Fuma here is throwing a fuss because he thinks he's the one who can own Kamui-chan and doesn't like the idea you two are getting closer," Seishiro clarified. Not that he liked it but he didn't want Fuma to scare Subaru-kun away right then. He could find a way to keep Subaru-kun and Kamui-chan parted later. "I do wonder what Kamui-chan will say about you scaring away people, Fuma," he added in a casual tone. So Fuma believed he could ruin his 'having an ice-cream with Subaru-kun'? Well, let's wait till Kamui-chan heard of his behaviour today. No one was better than Kamui-chan in kicking Fuma's ass.
"You keep out of this!" Fuma stated glaring at him which was an error because Seishiro normally took very bad when people were trying to order him around. Their argument didn't have a chance to start as Subaru-kun spoke up again.
"We aren't getting close," he stated quietly. "But you can't own him. He's not a toy for you to play with." Subaru felt uncomfortable as everyone's gaze was on him. He couldn't know that no one could tell Monou-san what to do with Shiro-san. However he wasn't going to take back what he said. He meant all he said and never walked away from the path he decided to take, no matter how much it scared him.
"What did you say, brat?" Monou-san asked him in a low, dangerous voice. Subaru sustained his gaze.
"You heard me. Shiro-san is a person not a... a... a glass cup or some other item," Subaru insisted. Monou-san moved to grab him but was stopped from Sakurazuka-san.
"Seishiro, let go!" Fuma yelled.
"You're not going to hurt him!" Seishiro yelled back.
"What do you think, that he'll get in bed with you merely because you defended him?"
"Take that back!"
The argument was interrupted again by Subaru.
"Sakurazuka-san, please let him go," he requested with a hint of embarrassment. "I don't care if he beats me up," he added shrugging. "I said the truth. Shiro-san is not an item he can own. If he likes him so much he would do better to treat him as a person."
Fuma freed himself from Seishiro's grip and glared at the boy.
"You... you..." he spat angrily. He would have liked to be able to accuse Sumeragi of lying, of saying so because he could hide behind Seishiro's back, of lusting after Kamui-chan but couldn't. Somehow he sensed Sumeragi had been perfectly honest in what he had said and it annoyed him. He could always understand so well what was going on in other people's minds, in all the minds except Kamui-chan's, so he could be sure Sumeragi had no interest over him. Kamui-chan's crush was totally one sided and the thing both irritated and pleased him. He sat down grumpily.
"You'll regret if you'll get between me and Kamui-chan," he muttered, not looking up at the boy. He felt like he had been beaten up somehow and it wasn't something he was used to swallow. The others looked at him surprised. Fuma wasn't the type who would give up a fight.
"Sakurazuka-san, I thank you for the ice-cream and... everything. I'll repay you back. I didn't mean to cause problems between you and your friends. I'll better go now," Subaru said hurriedly then he just escaped from the place. He hadn't meant to cause trouble, really.
Seishiro blinked, said to Fuma he hated him and that he would make him pay for it and then ran after Subaru.
Luckily for him the boy hadn't managed to get that far.
"Subaru-kun, wait!" he requested, gripping Subaru's arm. "I'm sorry, they were being jerks and Fuma's an idiot and I'm sorry! Don't hold this against me, please," he said in a single breath, hoping to calm the boy. Subaru-kun however didn't seem angry.
"It's not your fault," he murmured shaking his head. "It's me. I don't know how to behave with people. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you argue with your friends. I'm really sorry," Subaru-kun kept repeating as if he was about to cry over this. The following next minutes were spent trying to decided who had to be guilty and deserved to be sorry until Seishiro got bored with it and told Subaru-kun to just forget the incident. The boy mercifully stopped apologizing but now he was silent and looking down again.
"Listen, okay, let's go some other place like... I don't know, where do you go usually?" Seishiro asked. He had dozens of fun places in which he could drag the boy but since he didn't know him well he didn't want to carry him in a place the boy would find boring.
"Library?" Subaru-kun suggested timidly.
"Library? Isn't it closed by now?" Seishiro hoped it was, but he feared it wasn't. He couldn't picture a worse place to spend the afternoon.
"CLAMP Gakuen Doubutsuen?" the boy offered then. He knew the library wasn't close but he was smart enough to understand Seishiro didn't want to go there.(6)
"The zoo?" Seishiro repeated. Well... it was marginally better then the library but...
"I'm sorry, I don't usually get out much, I just..." the boy started babbling apologies again. Subaru-kun did that a lot, Seishiro noticed smiling fondly at the boy.
"It's okay, Subaru-kun, it's okay. The zoo is a great place really but it's a bit too far and..." Then he remembered something. "The aquarium! We can go there! Do you like aquariums, Subaru-kun?" he asked. The aquarium was a nice place to go. It have surreal atmosphere, not much people around and wasn't that far. And there was a shop near it that served the best muffins in the whole city. Subaru-kun's eyes shined at the prospect but then they had lowered sadly.
"No, I... I can't go to the aquarium I..."
"Why no?" Seishiro complained.
"I told you I'm out of money and..."
"No problem, I'll pay!" Seishiro said shrugging the problem off.
"But... but... but you can't pay for me, I..."
"I invited you, I'll pay for you. Come on, let's go," he stated grabbing Subaru-kun's hand again and starting to drag him toward the aquarium.
"But... but... Sakurazuka-san..." Subaru-kun started to complain. Seishiro stopped and turned toward him.
"By the way, Subaru-kun. My name is Seishiro. Just call me that. After all, you did so already at the bridge."
"I did what?" the boy exclaimed, paling at the idea he had called Seishiro in such an intimate manner. "I'm so sorry, Sakurazuka-san, I don't know what I was thinking, I didn't mean to sound..."
"Subaru-kun!" Seishiro cut him. "I'm saying it's alright if you call me just that. You don't have to apologize for it!"
"But... but..."
"It's not so shocking! Surely you've already called other people by their given name!" Subaru-kun shook his head. Seishiro blinked. "Never? Not even one?"
"Just Hokuto-chan..." the boy admitted.
"What about your friends?" Seishiro inquired raising one of his eyebrows. Subaru-kun lowered his head even more if possible.
"I... well... I'm not good with people, I..."
"Don't you have friends, Subaru-kun?" he asked gently and saw the boy shaking his head in denial. "Not even at your previous school?" Another shake. "The art club?" Another shake. Oh well, Seishiro thought, maybe that explained why Subaru-kun was so damn shy and prone to apologizing. "Okay, then I'll be your first friend," he decided.
"What? But I..." Subaru-kun stammered looking up at him with wide eyes.
"Don't you want to be my friend?" Seishiro asked in an almost pouting tone.
"No, it's not that!" Subaru-kun hurried to say. "It's just... it's just..."
"It's just what?" he asked when the boy didn't seem to plan to continue and merely stared at the ground silently.
"I'm not friend material. I don't know what to do. I'm boring and weird and nothing like Hokuto-chan and..."
"Subaru-kun," Seishiro called making the boy pause in his rant. "It's okay, don't worry. I've plenty of noisy friends. I might enjoy having a quiet one for a change."
"But I... You don't have to do this. It's..."
"No one is forcing me to. I'm the one dragging you around, aren't I?" Seishiro commented showing Subaru-kun he was still holding his hand. The boy blushed and looked down. Cute. So very cute. "It's okay, little one, don't worry. I'll take good care of you. By the way, I've to return you your drawing album," he pointed out starting to walk again, pulling Subaru-kun as well. "You're quite good at drawing, do you know that?" Subaru-kun blushed even more if possible and mumbled a shy 'thank you'. "Will you try to become an artist?" Seishiro asked, trying to get the boy to open up. Subaru-kun shook his head. "No? What then?"
"Zookeeper..." Subaru-kun mumbled weakly looking at Seishiro as if he expected the boy to beat him at that admission.
"Zookeeper? Well, it's nice I guess." And it explained why Subaru-kun wanted to go to the zoo. "Won't it be a waste for your artistic talent?" Subaru-kun blushed even more.
"I'm not... talented... it's just... I did... lot of exercise... I think... and... drawing is not... well... only the best ones can do it and get paid... and... and I really like animals... and I thought... I'm sorry... I'm babbling... I..."
"It's okay. I think it's the longest sentence I've heard from you that wasn't an apology," Seishiro said, smiling encouragingly. Subaru-kun looked at him hesitantly. "Well, except for when you talked back to Fuma. You should avoid doing it by the way. Fuma reacts violently to who get in between him and Kamui-chan." Subaru-kun lowered his gaze again.
"I don't like it..." he mumbled weakly.
"You don't like what?"
"When people talk of others as if they were objects. It... it hurt. They're no objects..." Seishiro didn't see the problem in it. Who cared about how people talked about others? Unless...
"You don't like Kamui-chan, do you?" Subaru-kun blinked.
"I don't even really know him... he's just... my Kouhai..." he said weakly. "I guess he's a very nice person but..."
"Well, yes but you might like him anyway. I mean... Kamui-chan isn't that bad physically..." Subaru-kun stared at him as if he had just said the weirdest thing possible. "No, I guess you don't like him like that," Seishiro commented with a smile. "Good." Subaru-kun blinked confused. "I mean... it's good you don't like him because Fuma's so jealous of him that... Well, you know," Seishiro tried to explain. Subaru-kun just stared at him and Seishiro decided it would be better to change the topic.
The rest of the trip to the aquarium was quiet enough. Subaru-kun enjoyed watching the fishes. Seishiro too had been considering becoming a veterinarian but he was impressed to discover that Subaru-kun knew a lot more about each animal than he did. All in all it was a very pleasant afternoon, one he planned to repeat soon.
"Who did you murder this time?" his mother asked him as way of greeting as soon as he set a foot in the house.
"I don't murder people, Kaasan. Beat them up when they're being annoying yes but murder, not yet," he pointed out annoyed. "It's just... not my style."
"You have that silly grin you wear only when you're particularly proud of yourself," his mother insisted. "I want to know if the police will knock again at my door to inform me of the mess you made this time."
"Kaasan, I really did nothing!" he defended himself.
"Sweetheart, you said you did nothing the time you and Monou-kun destroyed a police car also," she remembered him conversationally. Seishiro hated to be reminded of that.
"It was an accident! How could we know that the statue would crumble if we were to hit it with the ball? And the police shouldn't have left their car right under it anyway!" he complained.
"What crime did I commit in my previous life to deserve such a bratty son?" his mother sighed theatrically.
"Kaasan, if you have to know, I only had an ice-cream and then I visited the aquarium!" he exclaimed exasperated. Of course he avoided to mention that he went on a not yet fully built bridge and that almost had a fight with Fuma. Seishiro knew what was better to say to his mother and what was better to keep for himself. His mother blinked at the revelation then shook her head disappointed.
"Seishiro, of all the stupid lies..."
"It's real! I still have the ticket to prove it! You can also ask Subaru-kun if you really don't believe me!"
"Subaru-kun?" This picked up her interest. As far as she knew, and she made a point of knowing everything in her son's life, Seishiro called by first name only that brat Monou Fuma, whom he knew from kindergarten (the two of them had single-handedly demolished a class arguing over who of them should get the last cookie), and Kamui-chan, whom he met short later due to the fact he was Fuma's friend and neighbour.
"Hum... yes... do you remember Sumeragi Subaru-kun? I think I mentioned him to you once or twice..." Damn, damn, damn. He hadn't meant to let this little information to escape...
"More than once or twice say one million or two... maybe more, surely not less," she corrected him sweetly. "So you managed to get out with the boy you're hopelessly obsessing about by a month?" she asked and Seishiro could see his mother was starting to get intrigued. Seishiro knew that meant nothing good.
"I'm not obsessing about him!" he denied heartedly.
"Sure," she agreed with that dismissive tone that meant she wasn't absolutely going to believe him. "Details, Seishiro. You'll better start giving me them."
"Kaasan! You're gossip starved!"
"And you'll better feed my hunger if you want a slice of the chocolate cake I just bought..." she replied sweetly. Sweets. They were Seishiro's weak side and she knew it well.
"Kaasan! That's blackmail!" he exclaimed in a scandalized tone. Not that it would work with his mother...
"Dear, I prefer to call it an exchange of favours..." she replied smiling innocently.
Four hours later...
"Seishiro, when I said I wanted details I didn't mean to say I wanted you to repeat me EVERITHING Sumeragi-kun said, stuttering included, plus the number of times he breathed in and out and each of his movements included the length of his steps or the times he blushed and the shades he reached," his mother pointed out as she cut a slice of cake for herself.
"You asked for it," Seishiro replied annoyed. "Where's my slice?" he asked then suspiciously.
"You're a big baby, do you know that?" his mother complained affectionately giving him a large one. "That's good you aren't obsessing over him. I don't want to know what you'll do if you were."
"Kaasan, I'm merely attentive!" Seishiro complained between a mouthful and another.
"Sure, Seishiro, sure... So, is Sumeragi-kun going to wish to see you again or did you manage to completely freak him out?"
"Tomorrow at school we're going to have lunch together!" he informed her happily. His mother considered the information.
"Hum... does he know?" she wondered.
"Nope. Don't you think it'll be a nice surprise?" Seishiro asked in an innocent tone.
"Poor Sumeragi-kun..." was all that his mother said.
"Kaasan!"
JJ's Notes:
1. In Japan new students introduce themselves to the class and write their name on the blackboard. You can see Shiro Kamui doing it in 'X' Vol. 1.
2. If someone's wondering why Seishiro didn't react... Hokuto caught him on surprise and before he could do something the teacher entered in the class. Later he was just too busy 'not obsessing' over Subaru to remember the incident.
3. CLAMP Gakuen is a school famous to have LOT of celebrations.
4. I suppose I don't have to remind to anyone what had happened on Rainbow Bridge in 'X', do I?
5. Strawberry ice-cream was the one that was in Fuma's house when Fuma carried there an injured Kamui. Chocolate chip ice-cream was the one he offered to Seishiro when they met in Shibuya. Assuming that Fuma was again looking like who Seishiro wanted to see and doing what Seishiro wanted him to do and that Seishiro Wished to be with Subaru I figured that might be the ice-cream taste Seishiro would associate to Subaru. It's just my idea anyway.
6. CLAMP Gakuen includes a zoo. And a hospital. A bank. And other stuff. Yes, it's not your ordinary school.
JJ's Extra Notes:
Okay, okay, the chances the reincarnation of a person will have the same name and surname are close to zero but, for practical purposes, I let the boys keep their old ones. And no, I'm not going to explain how they all die.
If you're wondering how Kamui can beat up Fuma... well, that's Karma, payback for having been beaten up.
As for how the characters call each other... Fuma and Seishiro call each other by first name because they know each other from childhood. Everyone calls Kamui 'Kamui-chan' because they make fun of his younger age and shorter height. The basket team members call each other simply by surname. They call Subaru by surname as well, adding '-kun' or '-san' out of politeness. Subaru, who's very polite, calls everyone by surname adding '-san' at the end.
Calling a person by name instead of surname implies familiarity or lack of respect, that's why he's so embarrassed when Seishiro told him he had called him by name.
I used for this fic the names' transliterations used in 'CLAMP no Kiseki' Vol. 8. My only exception is Arashi's surname. In 'CLAMP no Kiseki' is transliterated as 'Kisyuu' but I prefer to use 'Kishu' that I had found used in official sources more often.
Dictionary:
-chan: Name ending used to express affection and familiarity or to talk with a child
-kun: Young
-san: "Mr." or "Mrs."
CLAMP Gakuen Doubutsuen: CLAMP Campus Zoo
Gakuen: Campus
Kaasan: Mother
KaiChou: "President" or "Team Captain"
Kouhai: "Younger Co-worker" or "Younger Classmate"
Onmyoudo: "Way of Yin and Yang". Yin and Yang are the male and female forces underlying the movement and changes of nature. Onmyoudo is based on the Chinese arts of astrology, divination and Taoist magic and also represents a mystical way of living in harmony with the forces of nature
Onmyouji: "Person who practices Onmyoudo". Basically a magician, sorcerer, diviner and astrologer
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